


Fire and Ice

by timebomb02



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Figure Skater Nana, Figure Skater Tsuna, Gen, Sawada Iemitsu's A+ Parenting, Supportive Reborn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-05-13 01:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19240870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timebomb02/pseuds/timebomb02
Summary: When Tsuna is 5, his mother signs him up for ice skating lessonsWhen Reborn shows up in Namimori, his new student is not what he expected.





	1. Learning to Skate

Sawada Nana sighed as her husband and his boss left her yard. She kept a good mask up, but she was starting to resent Iemitsu for his long absences and brief reappearances. He couldn't even leave work behind when he did come home, bringing his boss like that with no warning. Timoteo was a nice man, but sometimes she got the feeling that he was far more dangerous than he appeared. And they hadn't even told her he was coming!

  
She turned away from the entryway with another sigh, toward the kitchen. It was about time to start lunch for her and Tsuna. 

  
She turned back quickly when she heard a thump down the stairs. Had Tsu-kun dropped something? She saw her son lying at the bottom of the stairs and ran to him. What had happened? Tsu-kun was normally so graceful. Her son groaned but miraculously didn't seem to be in pain other than minor bruising.  


"Oh, Tsu-kun. It seems you've hit a growth spurt. You might be a little clumsy until your head catches up with your legs." Tsu-kun looked at her almost blankly, and she briefly worried he had hit his head harder than she had thought, but then grinned at her.   


"Don't worry Mama!" How had he known she was worried? Usually, no one could sense anything but a bubbly obliviousness from her. "I'll work hard so my feet don't stay ahead of me!"

* * *

 

A month later, Tsu-kun's newfound clumsiness had yet to disappear and Nana was worried. She had brought Tsuna to Namimori General just to make sure she hadn't missed any more serious injuries. The doctors had told her that her son was fine and confirmed that the sudden clumsiness was likely growing pains and she had gone home mostly content. But growth spurts didn't usually last for so long before children could account for the new length of their limbs and she was concerned that if she didn’t find some way to make him more aware of his body, he would be eternally clumsy.   


She didn’t really mind and in and of itself; clumsiness was of course not a bad thing. Everyone had their moments of clumsiness and it really wasn’t a big deal among adults. But children were eternally cruel and her Tsu-kun, who used to be a leader among the other children in the neighborhood, was starting to suffer from that. They abandoned their leader when he could no longer reliably lead them on the same adventures without tripping and started calling him Clumsy-Tsuna. The other day she even heard one of them call him Dame! And unsurprisingly the other parents never did anything. It was just kids being kids they said. Nana scoffed. Well, if she couldn’t stop the other kids from being mean to her son for being clumsy, she would just have to stop him from being clumsy.   


Namimori had plenty of dojos for various martial arts, but she wanted something to bond with her son over. She hadn't been skating since before she got married, too busy with her husband, and then taking care of a baby on her own. She missed it. The chill of the rink, the sound of blades on the ice. She considered a little more as her son tripped on his way into the kitchen for breakfast, and made up her mind.   


"Tsu-kun, how would you like to learn to ice skate?"

* * *

 

Despite its numerous sport-related offerings, Namimori did not have an ice rink. They had to go a little further afield for that. So when Tsuna arrived home for lunch that same day, she bundled him up and took him to the next town over, which did despite being much smaller. The mother and son pair ate sandwiches on the train, and when they arrived in Hasetsu, walked briskly towards the ice rink, Tsuna still stumbling every few steps.    


Ice Castle was very welcoming, the lady behind the counter grinning at them as they approached. "Welcome! What can I do for you?" She turned a quick smile at Tsuna, before turning back to his mother. Nishigori Hisa recognized Kita Nanami and guessed that the small boy was her son. It would be so exciting if they started skating here!   


"Hello, I would like to sign my son up for skating lessons."   


Hisa cheered silently as she turned around to look for the lesson schedule. "Alright. We have lessons ranging from daily right after school to once a week only on weekends. What would you like?" With barely any consideration, Kita-san asked for lessons 3 times a week, an hour after schools let out for the day.    


"Sure!" After taking the payment she offered, "Free skate starts in five minutes. Would you like to try on some skates before your lesson tomorrow?" The little boy peeked out from behind his mother but nodded shyly. Hisa squealed internally as she fitted the boy (and his mother!) for skates and ushered them out to the rink. When they were out of sight, she stopped trying to contain herself and squeed until her husband came to see what was wrong. "Kita Nanami and her son are going to skate here! Here!" She twirled until her husband halted her, and then grinned before pecking him on the lips and getting back to business, still smiling happily.

* * *

 

Yuuri tried to block out the noise of the rink, focusing on his lead into a Salchow. He had gotten his waltz jump down but was struggling with the takeoff of the Salchow. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to be doing any jumps outside of practice, and especially not during free skate, but Nishigori-san never minded if he practiced during the beginning before a lot of people arrived. He did one more lap to warm up before picking up speed and launching himself into the air. His takeoff was good, and he completed the required turn, but just as he was about to land Yuu-chan shrieked. He landed on the wrong edge of his blade and toppled, barely catching himself on his hands as he did. Yuuri slapped the ice in frustration, catching Yuu-chan's attention and her excitement faded as she realized she had distracted Yuuri.   


"Sorry, Yuuri-kun! I didn't realize you were jumping!" She was very apologetic but also very distracted, barely holding herself back from checking over her shoulder, so Yuuri waved it off.   


"It's alright, Yuu-chan. I shouldn't be so easily distracted anyway." He sighed and ignored her as she tried to check his hands from where he caught himself. "What distracted you, though? Usually, you are very focused when we're on the ice." She stopped trying to catch his hands and turned around, barely holding in another sound of excitement.   


"Kita Nanami!" Yuuri recognized the name from some of Yuu-chan's rants about professional skaters, and when he turned to look, he recognized her face from some of her posters. He hadn't realized she lived locally and wondered why she suddenly came to the Ice Castle free skate. "I wonder why she's here?"   


Their question was answered as she came onto the ice. Clasped in her hand was the hand of a little boy, a few years younger than Yuuri, who looked both nervous and excited. They smiled at each other at the sight of another new skater, before turning their attention back to the issue at hand. "I wonder if that's the family she retired for?"   


"He does look a lot like her. Has her hair and eyes. He's cute." Yuu-chan paused, caught up in her adoration of cute things before..."I wonder if he'll skate like Kita-san?"   


Yuuri waved his hands in front of himself trying to interrupt Yuu-chan before she got into any fantasies of having met/trained multiple internationally ranked figure skaters. "Yuu-chan! He's barely even started skating! He might decide to do something else or only skate as a hobby. Who says he wants to skate professionally!"   


Yuu-chan frowned at him. "I didn't say he had to! I just wondered if he would! Kita-san was amazing! She's a three-time Grand Prix gold medalist and she won bronze in the Olympics! If he does even half as well, he could help bring Japan to the top! He..." She trailed off as she realized Kita Nanami had heard her, having made it around the rink to where the two were standing with her son. "Not that he has to skate Kita-san! I just..." She bowed suddenly and Yuuri followed suit. "I just really admire your skating!"   


Kita-san laughed. "It's alright! I hope Tsu-kun skates as well! It would give us something to bond over! But he doesn't have to. He's just learning right now because he's clumsy and we're trying to help him get over that!"   


Tsu-kun - he wondered what that was short for? - blushed but proved her point by almost falling as soon as Kita-san let go of his hand, even though they were standing still. Even so, when he regained his balance his face was determined although still a little red. "Tsu-kun will be a skater like Kaa-chan!" Yuuri could swear that his eyes were glowing a subdued orange, but ignored it in favor of extending his hand with a smile.   


"Let's become skaters together then!" Nana smiled as her son took his hand. She had a feeling she would be following both boys to the international stage. She was looking forward to it.

* * *

 

Nana and Tsuna arrived early at the rink the next day for lessons. Tsuna had been very excited to learn how to skate just like she had. He had asked to watch all of her old programs the night before and that had only made him more determined. There was a small crowd in the entrance area of the Ice Castle when they arrived, both parents from the previous session that was still on the ice and other early arrivals for their session. Looking through the glass windows in the door to the rink, she saw the two nice children they had skated with yesterday finishing their lesson with various spins. They were very good, she knew they would do well. The boy especially. He was very good for his young age. She hoped he continued skating.    


She held Tsuna's hand in one of hers and his rented skates in the other as the older class cleared the ice. Tsuna was clinging to her a bit, a little skittish around other children after the way his "friends" have abandoned him recently. She got him into his skates again and helped him to the edge of the rink before leaving him to his lesson and alighting to the bleachers that lined one edge. She really hoped this went well for him.   


The lesson started slowly. Tsuna was not the worst skater there, it was a beginner class so they were all relatively equal in skill, but it was clear he was still very clumsy. The instructor had started the class with how to balance themselves on their skates so that they could stand away from the boards as he demonstrated. He then helped them take steps and then gliding one at a time from one side of the rink to the other.

It had been a while since Nana had learned the basics, and everything the man was teaching came near instinctually for her at this point, but he seemed to know what he was talking about, and he had the patience to deal with many small children who didn't want to listen, something she did not. (She was usually a very easy-going and patient person but she did not really tolerate people messing around on the ice, which was something her rink-mates had teased her incessantly over.) Overall, the lesson was a success, and when the free skate started and she pulled on her own skates, Tsuna was ecstatic to show her everything he had learned. Which he did, without falling over even once.   



	2. Through the Years

Ikeda Noa sighed as she watched her class run through the steps she had taught them. They were a mixed group, some very talented and some struggling, but none very extraordinary. She skated over to help those struggling with their basic spins when she saw one of her better skaters start what looked like a lead up for a jump. Before she could yell at him, because they had not covered anything about jumps yet, and attempting things you weren't ready for could get you hurt, he took off. Not wanting to startle him, she moved towards him with her heart in her throat. Before her eyes, she watched the five-year-old land a near perfect double toe loop and beam. She smiled in pride, but quickly hid her smile and called out.

  
"Tsunayoshi! What do you think you're doing?! You should not attempt things we haven't covered yet when no one is keeping a close eye on you. What were you thinking?"

  
The smile quickly fell off his face and he stammered. "Ikeda-sensei! I was ... It's just..." He rallied himself and quickly babbled "Yuuri-sempai did a triple toe loop the other day, and I wanted to try it! I only did a double. I thought it would be okay." 

  
Noa sighed. Of course. She wasn't surprised that of all of her students Sawada Tsunayoshi was the one to attempt it. Although she hadn't thought he was a spectacular skater (She may be biased though, she did only teach the basics) he was one of her more dedicated. It was usually only the dedicated and most determined who got ahead of themselves on the ice.

  
"Come on Tsuna-kun. I need you to get off the ice for now. What you did was dangerous. I'm proud that you did a double toe loop, but I can't have you continue if you are not going to stick with the lesson. Alright? Have your Mama come to talk to me when the lesson is over please." Noa knew that this was a little cruel, but the kid did need to learn when was the time to show off and when wasn't. During a lesson when less talented students could see and imitate wasn't.

* * *

  
Nana was humming as she walked into Hasetsu Ice Castle. She had dropped Tsuna off an hour and a half ago and then gone to visit (and help) the Katsukis who had welcomed her and Tsuna the minute they knew that Yuuri had practically adopted the boy. From what Hiroko had mentioned this was very unusual. Nana welcomed the time away from her usual routine, and she often came over while Tsuna was at school, especially on days where they were not going to the Ice Castle. It was nice to have friends that didn't mock the fact that her husband wasn't present.

  
Walking through the doors to the rink, her happy mood dropped abruptly at the sight of her son at rinkside with tears in his eyes. Had he been hurt? It couldn't have been too serious or someone would have called her. What had happened?

  
"Tsu-kun?"   


"Mama! I didn't mean it, Mama. I just wanted to try. I didn't mean to break the rules! Are they going to kick me out now Mama? ...." The babble continued with no indication as to its cause and Nana just embraced her son. She was sure his instructor would tell her what had happened. The lesson was finishing up and Ikeda-sensei was skating towards them now.

  
"Sawada-san?" Nana nodded, her best blank smile on her face. "I need to talk to you about your son's lessons." Tsuna's sobs gained regained their fervor and Nana's smile blanked further. His lessons? What could he possibly have done? "Tsunayoshi-kun is too advanced for my class. He knows everything this level teaches, and while he is not the only one that is true for, he is attempting and succeeding at things taught two levels above this one. He needs something that will give him a challenge, and this class is just not giving him that."

  
Nana's smile warmed a little at that (and Tsuna's sobbing slowed considerably) but she was still a little confused. "What exactly happened Ikeda-sensei?"

  
The skating instructor grinned at her, proud in spite of herself. "Tsuna decided to attempt a jump today. Apparently, he had seen a sempai do a triple toe loop and wanted to try. While everyone was practicing the steps I taught the last session he successfully completed a double. It was beautifully done but unfortunately, I had to have him leave the ice for the rest of the lesson. I can't have students trying to get ahead of the teacher. Most students would have failed and likely hurt themselves but seeing their peers succeed gives them confidence and I had a few other students who looked like they wanted to take off. Because he did succeed though, I think he should move to a higher level lesson. The jumps are taught in the high intermediate class, and although it would skip a level, I have confidence that Tsuna could keep up. The high intermediate class is taught alternating this one, so you could even keep coming at the same time." 

  
The instructor was clearly enthusiastic and Tsuna was looking up at her, eyes still red but shining hopefully. Nana sighed but gave a proud grin. "Thank you for your recommendation. I will change our lesson block on our way out."

* * *

  
Yuuri clapped as his friend landed a perfect triple Axel. Tsuna was breaking in his new skates, which his mother had bought him for his twelveth birthday. "Great job Tsuna! you could win medals with that!" 

  
Tsuna stopped his spin and turned towards Yuuri. "Do you think so?" 

  
"Of course! The instructors stopped having anything to teach you a year ago, and your Mama has been coaching you in everything you need. I know you'll do great at Nationals."   


"I hope so. I don't want to disappoint Mama."   


"Why did you register under her name anyway?"   


Tsuna skated to the boards, allowing Yuuko to take his place on the ice to practice her routine. "A few reasons I guess. She is the one who got me interested in skating, and I want her to be recognized when I skate. And when people go looking for Nana and Yoshi Kita, they won't find us. It will keep the press from bothering us too much and add an air of mystery to the whole thing."   


"Makes sense."   


They both stopped talking and turned to watch as the music for Yuuko's routine started. At sixteen, she was very graceful but not up to competing at a national level. She did very well at regional competitions though.   


They applauded her as she finished and Takeshi spun her as she stepped off the ice. Nishigori-sensei nodded at her and they both waved as they moved to the benches to go over her performance.

* * *

  
Tsuna held his breath as the skater before him finished his short program. behind him, Nana was giving him one last pep talk before he stepped onto the ice for his biggest competition ever. He heard none of it. Over the loudspeakers, the score came through; a 77.38. He released the breath.   


"Skating eighth, age 12 from the Saga Prefecture in Kyushu, Kita Yoshi." he stepped out on the ice, did a few loops on his way to center ice, and took his position. He could do this.   


As the music started his initial movements were choppy, but a few seconds in they smoothed out as he lost himself in the music and the routine that he knew so well. The well-loved routine that had gotten him to Japan's junior nationals at the age of 12. Nothing reached him in his headspace but the music, and he danced his way around the ice, completing a few more spins and coming to a halt back where he had started. He breathed for a few seconds still deep in his headspace before he returned to himself with a jolt at the sound of applause.    


"Ladies and Gentlemen, Kita Yoshi!"   


He skated back to Nana with a wide grin on his face and took in the matching expression on hers. She hugged him tight as he stepped off the ice with a low whisper of "I'm proud of you" before she helped him put on his skate guards and walked him to the kiss&cry. Once there some of his pre-skate tension came back, but he was still mostly riding the high of his skate as they waited in silence for his scores.   
The announcer's voice came over the speakers again, but he was barely heard over the thunderous noise that shook the arena as his scores appeared on the screen. Faintly he heard "Kita Yoshi scores an 85.07 in his short program. Ladies and Gentlemen, that is a new Junior National record for Kita-san." Nana held him tight as Tsuna practically gaped in shock at the score. He was in first place and had broken the Junior National record.

* * *

  
Tsuna barely remembered the rest of the day. He had remained in first place when all of the junior skaters had finished and he would be skating last the next day. He barely talked to the reporters that tried to stop him on the way out, Nana doing most of the talking. Back in their hotel room, he stripped out of his costume and knocked on the next room's door. It had barely opened before Yuuri pulled him inside.    


"Congratulations Tsuna! I told you that you would do great. You broke the National record!" Yuuri was in third place at the end of the short program, but Yuuri and his coach agreed that his free program was stronger and he would make up at least the one point between him and Silver tomorrow.    
Tsuna blushed but congratulated his friend as well. "You did really well too Yuuri." The pair spent the next hour talking before Nana knocked on the door and took Tsuna back to go to sleep in preparation for the next day.

* * *

  
Yuuri breathed hard as he released himself from his finishing pose and finally allowed himself to take in the applause. He had blocked out everything but the music as he skated, and he felt, in the end, it was a strong and very successful program. He had even landed all his jumps! He cleared the ice for Miyamoto Daisuke and walked to the kiss and cry.    


He was still recovering from his skate - the most rigorous one he had performed to date - when his coach suddenly hugged him. He looked up at her, the announcer's words not registering at all.    
'Yuuri! You got a personal best! A 129.5!' He stared at her in shock, before he briefly hugged her back. At the end of his free skate, he was in the lead with two skaters to go, and he had scored a personal best.    


He took his jacket as his coach passed it to him, and walked back to the boards to watch the last of his competitors. He watched Miyamoto finish and leave the ice (what he had seen of the performance a strong showing) and watched as his little friend skated loops to prepare himself for his skate. Tsunayoshi was ready for this, and Yuuri knew he would do well.   


'Yoshi! Ganbarou!'   


Tsuna waved at him and continued his figures as Miyamoto's score was announced. A 128.2. Well done, but Yuuri was still in the lead. The applause died down and the announcer's voice rang out once more as Tsuna took his starting position.    


Yuuri watched the entire performance, and as Tsuna's last spin slowed to a stop, Yuuri knew he had done it without even hearing the score. Tsuna had won Japan's Junior Nationals.

* * *

Nana and Yuuri moved toward the room where the press conference was. She had brought both boys to Tokyo since the Katsukis had a business to run, and she wanted to take them back to the hotel room so they could celebrate on their own. As she approached the entrance a stream of reporters left the room. One of them, a Japanese reporter (Morooka she thought his name was) there covering Japan's win at its home rink, noticed her and took his notebook back out. 

"Kita-san, how did it feel to see Yoshi-kun stand on the podium today?" The reporter looked a little starstruck at seeing the skater he had admired since he was a child but managed to keep his questions professional.

"I am incredibly proud of him. I never meant to send him on the same path I took as a teen, but he took to it better than I ever did and I am looking forward to his future career." She had forgotten how annoying reporters were as the others noticed one of their fellows was gone and who he was talking to. 

"Nanako Kita," Behind her Yuuri withheld a wince at how impolite the man was being. "What made you retire from figure skating? And how did you start your son on it?"

Nana frowned at the man, but the other reporters were just as curious if a little more composed about it. "As I said 14 years ago when I retired I wanted to focus on family. I was 23, and my skating was not improving any further and I had fallen in love. As you can see, I got a wonderful son out of it and I am very proud of him." The reporters were scribbling and the rude reporter opened his mouth again. "Any questions about how and why Yoshi skates should have been addressed to him during the press conference." Tsuna left the conference room then, having finished talking to the silver and bronze medalists, and she excused herself from the throng of reporters. "Now if you will excuse me, my son and I are going to go celebrate his gold medal."


	3. Gold Metal Fail

Iemitsu slammed the front door open shouting "I'm home Nana my lovely flower!" He expected her to appear out of the kitchen beaming at him as she usually did when he returned to Japan, but all that greeted him was silence. He supposed she was out shopping and he set his bags in the entryway so she would see them as soon as she got home.

He had decided (or rather Nono had sent him) to tell Nana and his Tuna-fish about Reborn coming as a home tutor for Tsuna in person. Of course, he wouldn't tell his Nana everything, she was innocent and lovely and shouldn't be involved in such things. He threw himself on the couch and sighed. He had hoped to keep his family completely out of the mafia, but the deaths of Nono's sons forced Vongola's hand. They couldn't have an heir without Vongola blood and Iemitsu himself was ineligible as head of the CEDEF. And honestly, Reborn would help Tsuna a lot. The boy was practically useless! The reports he got (had Basil hack Nanimori for) indicated that the boy was almost failing his classes, had no extracurriculars, and was frequently out of school! He needed to shape up and Reborn was just the man (baby?) to do it.

Iemitsu perked up as the sound of a car engine cut off and he heard the voice of his lovely Nana. (Subconsciously he noted that last time he had come home (visited), Nana hadn't needed or wanted a car. He wondered what had changed). She was practically gushing and she hadn't even seen he was home yet. He was glad she was happy in his absence. Suddenly he heard a crash from the entryway and he moved to the door to greet his wife, hoping she hadn't dropped the groceries after seeing his bags. (He was looking forward to her delicious home cooking!!) What he saw when he got there was a giggling Nana with a suitcase in her hand, and his clumsy son looking sheepish from the floor next to Iemitsu's bags, another suitcase and a duffle bag next to him.

"Oh Tsuna, I never understand how you can be so clumsy walking across a flat surface." Iemitsu smiled at Nana's mirth but was a little disappointed she hadn't noticed his presence yet.

"It wasn't a flat surface this time Kaa-chan. There are bags here." His cute little tuna-fish protested. "Why are there bags here?" The two exchanged confused looks and Iemitsu almost cried in disappointment as he came out of the living room.

"Ah, my cute little tuna-fish didn't even recognize his Papa is home!!!" He didn't look at his son even as he was talking about him, and so missed the look of disgust and disappointment as he embraced his wife, who was laughing and very happy to see him.

"Iemitsu! You're home! Oh, I don't have enough food in the house to make a good welcome home feast! I have to go to the shops today!!" His wife babbled. She put down the suitcase and turned to walk out the front door again but Tsuna grabbed her wrist and interrupted her before she could make it far. 

"Wait, Kaa-chan. You've been driving for a while and you're exhausted. I'm sure ... Dad ... is tired too. We should go out tonight for a celebration and you can do the shopping tomorrow alright? Everyone will appreciate it more if they are not about to fall asleep, and your cooking deserves to be fully appreciated." Nana cooed about thoughtful sons even as Iemitsu pouted about having to wait for his lovely cooking. The boy did have a point, though. At least about sending Nana back out to shop when she was tired. Which raised a good point.

"And why are you so tired my lovely Nana-chan? What have you been doing in your free time without your darling husband?" Nana giggled and behind his back, his son practically glared daggers.

"We've just gotten back from the Figure Skating Grand Prix Finals in Tokyo! It was so exciting! The competition was so fierce and..." Iemitsu didn't see what was so exciting about people running around on ice skates and so tuned her out, simply happy to see her so happy.

"Tuna-fish! It's so nice of you to support your Mama in her interests!" This caused both his wife and his son to frown at him, one in confusion and the other in disgust. He frowned back his own confusion growing. What had he said?

"What? Oh no! Tsu-kun wasn't supporting me. He was a competitor!" Nana's confused look gained understanding and her enthusiasm returned. "He did ..." Her confusion came back with a vengeance at the growing thundercloud on her husband's face. "Iemitsu?"

"You mean to tell me that the reason you miss so much school and have such bad grades is that you are wasting your time being a fairy and dancing on skates?" The frowns on Nana's and Tsuna's faces shifted to alarm at his anger. "No son of mine is going to waste his time that way. It's a good thing I came home now. I got you a tutor. He'll shape you up into a man I can actually call my son!" He saw the duffle bag still lying next to his own bags and grabbed it, suspecting what it contained. He ripped it open and was proven right, seeing the sparkly costumes and the well cared for skates. He turned on his heel, his family following with growing concern and headed for the backyard. His son would be the Vongola Decimo, certainly not a pansy skater. He went straight to the middle of the yard and dropped the bag, lighting it on fire with his flames as he did so. His son shrieked trying to get around him and at least rescue his skates. His wife was watching in horror with tears in her eyes. He glared down at his son, whose eyes were blank as he was blocked from the fire.

"You will not skate again." The boy glared up at him tears starting to well up in his eyes, and he glared back. "You will not. I provide money to this family, and I will not have it used to support such endeavors." He turned his glare to his wife, something he never thought he would do. But she had supported this ... this ... farce and he needed to lay down the law such as it was. "In the future, I will keep track of your spending Nana. If you use the money to support Tsunayoshi's ... hobby, I will stop supplying money." She gasped in horror, and behind him, his son looked resigned.

"But Iemitsu!" His wife protested his ultimatum, but Tsuna interrupted her again.

"No Kaa-chan. He would stop sending money. It's fine." He smiled but it was obviously fake, even to Nana. "I'll stop skating." His wife sobbed but Tsuna may be resigned to ending the only thing he was good at, but he was also firm that his mother would not have to work to support not only them as a family but also his skating career. "It's fine." It was not fine. "At least Hibari-san will be happy. I'll actually go to class more now." His smile turned sickly, and Iemitsu watched as his wife gave into her sobs and hugged her son. He felt bad for making Nana cry, but he was resolute. He would not have a pansy as a son. He turned away before his bitter and broken family could break his resolve, leaving the two to mourn the thing they had bonded over since Tsuna was a young child. They would thank him one day.

* * *

Yuuri looked up as the doors to the rink opened. He had booked private ice time almost as soon as Nana-san had returned him to Hasetsu, and the only ones who would intrude were Nana-san herself or Tsuna. He was surprised to see Tsuna walk through the doors, especially without skates, and made to skate to the boards next to him but was waved off. He retook his position at center ice and started the track to his practice routine, but knew he wouldn’t skate it as well as he could when he was worried about his friend. He tried not to let it throw him off his rhythm, but halfway through the song he gave up and turned back to the boards. Tsuna looked both apologetic and more relaxed as he approached and gave him time to put his skate guards on and sit next to him before he spoke.

“I can’t skate anymore.”

Yuuri gaped at his friend before he let out a sharp “WHAT?!”

“My  _ father _ finally came home.” The words were practically spat, and Yuuri leaned back at the vehemence from his usually soft-spoken friend. “He doesn’t approve of boys figure skating, and he burned my skates. He told Mama that he would stop sending money home if she kept using it for figure skating, and we can’t afford to lose that income.” Tsuna was practically in tears, and all Yuuri could do was hug the younger boy as he lost his composure. 

“I don’t want to stop Yuuri! I don’t want to lose this!” Yuuri just held him tighter.

* * *

Nishigori Hisa was worried. She had known Sawada Tsunayoshi since he was 5 years old and never had she seen him so close to tears. And even when he had been upset, he had come to skate to decrease the stress, certainly not without his skates! She peeked in through the windows on the doors to the ice and frowned further when she noticed Yuuri had left the ice and was holding the younger skater as he sobbed. She eased the door open and knelt in front of the pair.

“What happened?”

“Tsuna’s father burned his skates.”

The flat almost angry tone was shocking from Yuuri Katsuki, but no more so than his words.

“What?”

“I can’t skate anymore Nishigori-san. I came to say goodbye and cancel my ice times.”

She refused. She had rarely seen two people happier on her ice than Tsuna and Yuuri, and she would not let anyone take that away from either of them. 

“No. I refuse to never see you again. Come by whenever you get a chance and we will let you skate. Everyone here knows how much you love this. I will have skates waiting for you.” Tsuna opened his mouth, ready to argue, but she held her hand up to stop him. “They will just be rental skates of course, but we can help you skate for a little while longer until you get your blades beneath you again.”

Tsuna looked about to cry again but he thanked her softly. She ruffled his fluffy hair and left the two boys to go find her least worn pair of rental skates in each size. She also needed to call Nana-san. She needed a skating instructor for her older more experienced skaters and if money was an issue for the Sawadas Nana might finally accept her offer.

* * *

Yuuri was so grateful to Nishigori-san. He might see Tsuna less often, but Tsuna would still get the chance to skate. This had the chance of destroying his friend, and he was glad that he was not the only one who knew that and tried to prevent it. He pulled Tsuna to his feet and back to the rental counter. He may as well get him on the ice now. He wasn’t going to get any further in his routine this session.


	4. Another Perspective

When Reborn Arrived in Japan, the last thing he expected from his student was what he got. Sure, the boy was a loner and mocked incessantly by his peers, but he didn’t seem to care and neither did his mother. He was failing most of his classes and his absence record was much too high but once Reborn explained the basic concepts to him, it was like a lightbulb went off and he could complete Reborn’s initial worksheets well within the time limit. (Reborn responded by making the worksheets longer and more difficult of course. He couldn’t have his student becoming complacent after all). But the most confusing thing was his reaction to any mention of his father.

Reborn had been led to believe that Iemitsu’s family loved him. That his wife was a bubbly and oblivious woman and that his son was dumb and isolated (both were less true than he was told) but that they both loved him. When Reborn introduced himself as Tsuna’s new tutor, he had said that he was sent by Iemitsu to help his son raise his grades and become a leader in society. It had almost gotten him thrown out of the house by Iemitsu’s “loving”, “bubbly” wife and the glare he got from Tsuna made him doubt for a brief moment that he was untrained. He had had to do some quick backtracking and the promise that he would take her money rather than Iemitsu’s for Nana to allow him to stay. (He put the money in a bank account for Tsuna. He might be a mafioso but he was also a gentleman and Iemitsu wasn’t paying him anyway).

He had followed Tsuna to school the first day after he had introduced himself and when they met up with Sasagawa Kyoko he was sure he would have a chance to use the Dying Will Bullet for the first time since Tsuna blushed when she said hello, but he quickly became less sure. She congratulated him, and the blush darkened a shade before disappearing completely as he became perfectly polite and smiling. What had he done that was worth congratulating him on? And why did he already have the beginnings of a media persona? He shouldn’t have ever interacted with anything close to the media! Regardless, there was the chance that there was no unrequited crush, and he did not want to be responsible for killing Vongola’s last heir so he stuck to further observation instead of acting.

* * *

 

Yamamoto Takeshi admired Sawada Tsunayoshi. It was a fact of life that not many people knew, but nevertheless, it was true. Unlike Takeshi, Tsuna was a bit of a loner, but Tsuna never let it bother him and Takeshi felt that Tsuna presented a more honest face to the world. Takeshi also admired him for his talent and dedication to his chosen sport. Most people their age liked sports but did not understand the amount of effort it took to excel at them. Tsuna did, and he did excel, even if most of their classmates didn’t even know that Tsuna had a chosen sport. (Seriously, how could such a spectacular figure skater be so clumsy)?

When Takeshi had been eight, his mother had taken him to an ice rink in Hasetsu. It had been something for them to do together without it being anything overly serious and he had enjoyed it both for spending time with his mother and in and of itself. After the session ended, he and his mother took their time putting their shoes back on and returning their skates and he had seen a boy who was in his grade in school enter the rink with a serious look on his face. There was a kind-faced woman with a stern look on her face standing at the edge of the ice watching the boy start to skate figures, and Takeshi had wondered why they were allowed in after the rink closed to the general public. Seeing Takeshi’s expression, his mother had walked over to the other woman and asked if they could watch the beginning of their session. The lady had been hesitant but had ultimately agreed. (Takeshi later found out that it was only because Tsuna was not working on a routine that day that they had been allowed to stay at all). Takeshi had been enthralled. Tsuna was beautiful. He didn’t skate to any music at first, only doing figures and a run through of his jumps, but the quiet boy he only knew by Dame-Tsuna was nowhere to be found. When the woman eventually started playing music from her phone and Tsuna started dancing Takeshi was enraptured. This was captivating.

He still preferred baseball and he liked the people he played with, but after that session, Tsuna became his best friend. Takeshi cheered for him at every local competition and streamed every one that was too far to accompany him on. Tsuna watched every game of Takeshi’s that he was in Namimori for and called from his hotel if he couldn’t make it. Tsuna comforted him when his mom died, and Takeshi returned the favor every time Tsuna got upset that his father was never there. (Mostly around his parents’ anniversary when Nana would cry). All in all, they were very close and Takeshi knew that Tsuna had done well at his last competition (Gold at the Grand Prix was amazing! Tsuna was awesome!) because he had watched it  _ and _ Tsuna had called him on the trip back to Namimori. So Takeshi was very confused when Tsuna slouched into school with a frown on his face and a baby on his shoulder. What had happened in the two days since they had talked?

* * *

 

Hibari Kyouya watched from his perch on his office windowsill as the little animal walked dejectedly into the schoolyard. He had kept an eye on him since the little animal had started elementary school, first to figure out why this herbivore got special treatment from the administration and then to keep an eye on a young carnivore still growing into his fangs.

Kouya had first realized the little animal was a baby carnivore when he trailed him to the train station after school one day. The boy had an extra bag over his shoulder that Kyouya guessed held his practice clothes and his skates and one of his skates in his hands. He had been running his hands over the boot, checking the laces and the blade as he walked when one of his bullies had grabbed him by the shoulder, a taunt already on his lips.

Kyouya had already been watching the little animal for a while by that point, so he knew that his first instinct was to shriek loudly and flee. Hoping to protect his ears (although if anyone ever asked it was to keep the herbivores from getting ideas above their station) he started forward to bite the bullying herbivore to death, but before he got there the fluffy herbivore (or not) had turned and dug the tip of his skate into his aggressor’s shoulder before swinging his bag with enough force to knock the older herbivore over.

Kyouya had stopped in his tracks, and both he and the bullying herbivore watched in shock as the mini carnivore bared his teeth before running off to catch his train. He had recovered from his shock first of course and proceeded to bite the herbivore to death for crowding and attacking other herbivores. (Only Tetsu knew that he thought of the little animal as a carnivore even to this day). After that, his interest had been less why one of the herd got special privileges and more why the little carnivore hid his nature. He eventually realized that despite his chosen sport, the little carnivore hated crowds almost as much as Kyouya. He literally could not be bothered to put the herbivores in their place, and his trick of running away kept them from injuring him to the point he couldn’t skate.

Kyouya started watching all of the little carnivore’s practices (from the top of the bleachers of course. He still hated crowding). He admired his dedication and started to realize that most dedicated figure skaters were at least omnivores with what they put themselves through without complaint. When the little carnivore’s mother noticed him, she agreed to record all his competitions so that he could watch his little animal’s performances as well).

Kyouya had watched the competition yesterday. He knew the little animal had done well. He had shown the world his dedication and his strength and his teeth. So why was his herbivorous mask now stronger than ever?

(And was it just him, or did the baby on his shoulder remind him of his uncle? The carnivore baby had a pacifier almost just like that).

* * *

 

Mochida Kensuke hated Sawada Tsunayoshi. To most of this school, this was a fact of life. None of them knew why it had just always been that way. So when Kensuke glared at Dame-Tsuna that morning none of his friends were surprised.

Kensuke watched as his cru- Kyouko-chan approached Dame-Tsuna. He had liked her since the first days of elementary school, but she barely gave him any more notice than she gave anyone else in the school! But she talked to Dame-Tsuna. He was never close enough to them to hear what she talked to him about, but she blushed the whole time. And once he caught Dame-Tsuna blushing too! What had he done that was worthy of her attention! Kensuke was the regional Kendo champion, but she never looked at him with the admiration she gave Dame-Tsuna.

If he wasn’t watching her as closely as he always did, he would have missed the way Kyouko’s face fell slightly when Dame-Tsuna turned away from her with his Dumb smile. How dare he make her sad when she was deigning to pay him any attention! He marched forward, determined to confront him about it.

“Dame-Tsuna!” The boy turned, the Dumb smile falling from his face as he took him in. “For making Kyouko-chan cry I challenge you to a Kendo match for her honor!” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Kensuke felt as Dame as he always called Dame-Tsuna. That had not come out the way he had wanted it to.

* * *

 

Sasagawa Kyouko stared at Mochida-san in disbelief. He challenged Tsuna-kun over her honor because he made her cry?! She wasn’t crying! (She quickly rubbed at her cheeks to make sure). No! She wasn’t crying! So why had he challenged Tsuna-kun after they finished their conversation? It made no sense to her. And what right did he have to fight for her honor even if she was crying? She barely knew him!

Tsuna-kun didn’t understand either if the way he was looking at Mochida-san said anything. His face was completely blank in a way that looked kind of intimidating on a 13-year-old, but that if you knew him said that he didn’t know how to process what was happening. He gave her a quick look and she shrugged.

“  wins gets Kyouko-chan as their girlfriend.” the statement broke through her thoughts and she almost gaped in disbelief. What?! She was not some kind of prize to be won! At her side, Hana bristled ready to step in but Tsuna-kun got there first. 

“Kyouko-chan is a person. She can make her own decisions about who her boyfriend is. It is not up to you or to me.” His glare at Mochida-san was much more intimidating than his blank look, and she glared right alongside him, but Mochida-san scoffed. She reached forward and squeezed his hand and nodded when he looked at her. “But since you seem incapable of realizing this, I accept.” The entire crowd gasped at this, but the thr- four in the center (when had Yamamoto-san arrived?) just continued to glare at Mochida-san. How had this gotten so out of hand?


End file.
